The art of the matter

A message of kaitiakitanga was clear to see in the winning entries of the Great Kiwi Poster Competition.

This year’s competition was inspired by the notion of "tiaki a mātāhauariki", caring for the future or future guardianship.

And that philosophy came through loud and clear.

Judge Kezia Field said Maria Sagidullina’s winning poster in the junior section was "conceptually powerful messaging: this stunning artwork gives us hope and visually shows manaakitanga about the future of a planet".

Elsewhere, judges said the posters were a call to action.

Judging the senior section, Michel Tuffery said the winning entry by Cindy Huang offered a clear message about the need for a wider conversation.

The judges, Tuffery, Kezia Field and Fifi Colston, had to work their way through 200 eligible entries from around the country.

The four winners each won $1000 and their poster will be pasted up around Aotearoa by Phantom BillStickers during the next 12 months. There will also be an exhibition of the winning posters and the runners-up in each section at Tūhura Otago Museum in February.

It is the fifth national poster competition Dunedin artist and environmentalist Bruce Mahalski has helped organise in the past seven years.

"When I was 12 years old I won a national poster competition myself and this helped me to become passionate about posters," he said.

The entrants were encouraged to use their art skills to spread messages of hope and positivity, depict that there are better ways of doing things and that it is not too late to fix broken systems and move forward together with new sustainable models and a nationwide commitment to re-wilding, regenerating and protecting Papatūānuku and our precious native ecosystems.

Judge Michel Tuffery said Leoni Joubert’s work was a beautiful abstract composition that kept him looking right around the image. It had stopping power, he said, with its self-explanatory visual imagery and the way the artist incorporated interesting elements to draw the viewer in, despite the limited palette. The placement of fonts enhanced the work, which flowed. It was a strong composition that would work at any scale.

Judge Michel Tuffery said this poster was simple and straight to the point. It reflected the community, making it highly relatable to the viewer. The use of simple illustrations and colour palette brought attention to the centre, he said, while the visual message and solutions were all there, highlighting that a collective solution was necessary. The fonts were well balanced with the visual imagery, offering a clear message about the need for wider conversation. 

Judge Fifi Colston said the message in Danielle Wu’s poster was simple yet emotionally strong, with global warming threatening extinction of species. It was beautifully hand painted in dry-brushed acrylics, while the overall design, illustration, type placement and rendering were very pleasing and the whole worked beautifully as a poster.

Judge Kezia Field said Maria Sagidullina’s poster demonstrated a sophisticated use of wet media and a strong painterly approach. It had a powerful focal point, so the viewer’s eye moved directly to the sun through the excellent placement of it and horizon line. The strong Māori motif around the whole artwork allowed the image to have its own frame. 

For more

 - www.greatkiwiposter.com/